You’ve set up the room, gathered your team, and handed out sticky notes. The stage is set for your Event Storming session. You might think that once the prep work is done, the hard part is over. But in truth, running a session is where the magic, or chaos happens. This is where your facilitation skills can make or break the outcome.
So, how do you manage this whirlwind of sticky notes, ideas, and varying levels of engagement? Let’s dive in.
Let the Story Unfold
The beauty of Event Storming is that it’s not about sitting in a room for hours talking about theoretical processes. You’re going to dive straight into what really happens. The first thing to do is focus on domain events, the things that have already happened in the business world. These aren’t “what should happen” or “what could happen” scenarios. We’re not imagining the future here, we’re mapping reality.
Picture this: you’re working with a team of stakeholders, developers, and business experts, and you start the session by saying, “Let’s talk about the most recent time an invoice was sent.” Instantly, people are thinking in the past tense, bringing real events to the table. From there, you’ll gather events like “Reservation Confirmed,” “Payment Failed,” or “User Created.”
The beauty here is that by sticking to the past tense, you create clarity. There’s no ambiguity. It’s about what happened, not what we think happens. But this is just the starting point.
Guide, Don’t Dictate
As the facilitator, your job isn’t to speak the most or dominate the session. Your role is to guide the discussion, keeping the flow of ideas alive while helping everyone stay on track. The participants are the ones who should be doing the heavy lifting, adding sticky notes, questioning assumptions, and building the map of the domain together.
Your job is to nudge them. Keep them focused. Make sure every voice is heard. If someone has a thought, great - let them voice it. If they’re unsure, don’t fill the silence with your own solutions. Ask them questions like, “What’s missing here? Can we dive deeper into that part of the process?” The idea is to get the participants to engage deeply with the material, not just get through the list.
Handling Difficult Participants
I’m sure you’ve seen it before: that one person who just can’t stop talking. Or the one who never speaks up. Or the one who thinks Event Storming is a waste of time. Each type of participant requires a different approach, but the key is to get everyone involved in a way that feels organic.
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The Dominator: This person loves the sound of their own voice and takes over the room. You need to be subtle, but firm. Ask open-ended questions and gently redirect their energy to others. “That’s an interesting point, but I’d love to hear what others think about this part of the process.”
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The Skeptic: They don’t get it. They’re skeptical about the value of the session. Your job is to bring them into the process by asking for their expertise. Get them to point out a specific gap in the map, something that isn’t adding up for them. Involving them in solving the puzzle can shift their perspective.
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The Silent One: The person sitting quietly, maybe drawing on their sticky notes, but never saying much. Don’t let them stay silent for too long. Ask them directly: “What do you think about this event? How do you think this process works from your point of view?” You’d be surprised how often the quieter voices add invaluable insights.
Every person in the room brings something unique to the table, so don’t let anyone disengage. Keep the momentum going.
Don’t Rush, Don’t Overcomplicate
Event Storming is about understanding, not solving. As the facilitator, it’s easy to get swept up in trying to turn this session into a perfect, ready-to-build architecture. But that’s not what this is about, at least not yet.
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Jumping to Solutions: One of the most common pitfalls is rushing into solutioning. Someone will inevitably want to start discussing how to fix a problem, maybe even suggest a tech stack. Don’t let them. This is a discovery session. The goal is clarity on the domain, not a sprint to the perfect system design.
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Overcomplicating Notation: You might be tempted to introduce complex modeling notations: UML diagrams, flowcharts, whatever. Don’t. Stick to sticky notes and simple phrases. Complexity can wait. The idea is to get a clear, shared understanding of the domain, not to create the perfect diagram.
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Losing Sight of the Goal: It’s easy to get sidetracked by interesting discussions, but make sure the team keeps their eyes on the prize: understanding the domain. Keep asking, “What does this event mean? How does this fit into the bigger picture?”
In short, Event Storming is about focus and flow. Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t rush it. Let the events unfold naturally.
Patterns and Bottlenecks
Once the map starts coming together, that’s when the real fun begins. You’ll start to see patterns emerge, events clustering together around certain themes or processes. These clusters often represent bounded contexts or aggregates in your domain. Think of it like finding treasure in a messy room.
For example, let’s say you keep seeing events related to payments: “Payment Pending,” “Payment Confirmed,” “Refund Issued.” These could be the signs of a Payments Bounded Context - a cluster of activities that are closely related. Once you spot it, the next step is to zoom in and ask, “What are the boundaries of this context? What does it touch? Where does it intersect with other parts of the business?”
You’ll also notice bottlenecks or pain points, places where people hesitate, get confused, or where the conversation slows down. These are the areas in the process that are unclear or inefficient. Don’t ignore them. Write them down. Mark these areas as things to explore in more detail.
This is the essence of Event Storming: finding the cracks, the bottlenecks, and the gaps in the process that you’d never see in a traditional requirements meeting. It’s about exposing the hidden complexity before it becomes a problem.